The DeepSeek IPO plan is adding its first chief financial officer, according to Reuters. The Chinese AI startup plans to appoint GL Ventures partner Yan Wentao as CFO while preparing for a possible listing on Shanghai’s technology-focused STAR Market.

The appointment would put an experienced dealmaker in charge of financial controls, investor communication and capital allocation as DeepSeek shifts away from relying almost entirely on founder Liang Wenfeng’s hedge fund. DeepSeek, Yan and GL Ventures’ parent Hillhouse did not comment on the reported plan.

The reported DeepSeek IPO preparations now include four concrete steps:

• Yan Wentao is set to become DeepSeek’s first CFO.
• CITIC Securities is preparing the company for a domestic listing.
• The Shanghai STAR Market is the potential venue.
• Fresh capital is funding compute, chips and talent.

DeepSeek IPO Plan Adds Its First Finance Chief

Reuters reported on September 14 that DeepSeek plans to hire Yan, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. The sources were not authorized to discuss the appointment publicly, and the company has not issued its own confirmation.

That distinction is important: the appointment and listing are reported preparations, not completed public transactions. No prospectus has been filed, and DeepSeek has not disclosed the size, timing or target valuation of an offering. The reported CFO choice nevertheless adds an executive role commonly required as a private company builds public-market controls.

A CFO typically coordinates audited accounts, budgeting, disclosure procedures and communication with investors and regulators. Those functions become more demanding before an IPO, particularly for a rapidly growing AI company investing across research, data centers, semiconductor development and recruitment.

Yan is a partner at GL Ventures, the venture-capital arm of Hillhouse Investment. Reuters said he was born in 1991 and has dealmaking experience that includes investments in AI developer MiniMax, a DeepSeek rival that listed in Hong Kong earlier this year.

Hillhouse is not an investor in DeepSeek, according to Reuters. That makes the proposed appointment an operating hire rather than a representative joining from an existing shareholder, although the final scope of Yan’s responsibilities has not been publicly described.

CITIC Securities Prepares the Shanghai STAR Market Route

The CFO report follows a separate Reuters exclusive published September 9. DeepSeek has engaged CITIC Securities to prepare for a possible listing on the STAR Market, according to two people familiar with those discussions.

Companies seeking a mainland Chinese listing normally appoint a securities firm for pre-listing tutoring before formally applying. Reuters said DeepSeek aims to begin the IPO process this year, but the proposed deal’s fundraising target, valuation and transaction timetable remain undecided.

The STAR Market was created for technology-focused companies and gives DeepSeek a domestic route to public capital. A mainland listing could also keep the company closer to Chinese investors and regulators as export controls restrict its access to some advanced U.S.-designed chips.

A potential offering would require more detailed financial disclosure than DeepSeek has provided as a private research lab. Investors would be able to examine revenue, operating costs, related-party arrangements, customer concentration and the capital needed to train and serve its models.

DeepSeek and CITIC did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the brokerage engagement. Until an exchange filing appears, the process can still change, pause or be abandoned.

External Funding Changes DeepSeek’s Research-Lab Structure

DeepSeek was founded in 2023 and initially financed by Liang’s quantitative hedge fund, High-Flyer. That structure let the lab pursue model research without the same fundraising cycle as many startups, helping it build a reputation around lower-cost systems that challenged assumptions about frontier AI spending.

The company began accepting outside investment this year as its capital needs expanded. Reuters reported that DeepSeek raised about $7.4 billion in June at a post-money valuation above $50 billion, with Liang, Tencent and battery maker CATL among the largest participants.

A July Reuters report said DeepSeek was planning another round at a valuation of about 500 billion yuan, then equivalent to roughly $74 billion. The company was seeking as much as 50 billion yuan, according to a person briefed on the plan.

Those numbers remain privately reported terms rather than public-company filings. Still, they show why a dedicated finance chief matters: multiple institutional shareholders, large infrastructure commitments and an IPO process create reporting and governance demands that differ from a founder-funded laboratory.

Compute, Chips and Talent Will Test the DeepSeek CFO

DeepSeek’s capital strategy is tied directly to technical competition. The company has increased spending on computing infrastructure, model development and recruitment. Reuters has also reported that it is developing an inference chip and expanding teams working on data centers and AI agents.

Those projects require different investment horizons. Model training consumes cash immediately, data-center capacity requires long commitments, chip development carries design and manufacturing risk, and retaining researchers can demand compensation that competes with larger Chinese and U.S. technology companies.

A public listing could broaden DeepSeek’s access to capital, but it would also expose the company to quarterly scrutiny and disclosure requirements. Management would have to balance expensive long-term research with investors’ expectations for revenue growth, margins and evidence that infrastructure spending creates durable commercial demand.

China’s listed AI sector is becoming more crowded. Z.AI and MiniMax have already gone public in Hong Kong, while Moonshot has reportedly pursued its own listing. DeepSeek’s technical profile and brand recognition may attract attention, but public investors will compare those assets with revenue quality, governance and the cost of continued expansion.

The next verifiable milestones are a formal announcement of Yan’s appointment, completion of pre-listing tutoring and an exchange filing. Until then, the clearest conclusion is organizational: DeepSeek is building the finance and governance structure needed to operate less like a privately backed lab and more like a potential public company.

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